The White Sox' bullpen might look a whole lot different in 2011. Bobby Jenks could be out the door. Chris Sale could be headed to the rotation, at least until Jake Peavy comes back. And Tuesday, we learned that J.J. Putz declined arbitration from the White Sox, making him a free agent.

The White Sox have expressed a desire to re-sign Putz, but theyll have to wait in line.

Eight or nine teams have shown preliminary interest, Putz told Comcast SportsNet. Some for closer roles, others to be a set-up man with a chance for closing.

After suffering through an injury-plagued season with the Mets in 2009, Putz signed a one-year deal with the White Sox last winter and had a comeback season, going 7-5 with a 2.83 ERA in 54 innings. While many speculated that Putz would automatically decline arbitration, which would have given him a one-year guaranteed contract with the White Sox, Putz said it wasnt exactly a slam dunk.

We definitely had a back and forth about it, but realistically it was best on my part not to accept it.

Putz will likely command a two or three-year deal on the open market. If he signs elsewhere, the White Sox would receive a middle-round draft pick in compensation.

Although he has a home in Arizona, making it convenient to play for a team in the Cactus League during spring training, Putz is open to signing with teams in the Grapefruit League.

It is what it is, Putz said. Its nice to stay home, but if theres a better situation, Ill go to Florida.

As for when Putz might sign with a club, hes not expecting it to happen anytime soon, or at least until the Big 4 free agents ink deals: Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn and Jayson Werth.

Until those four guys sign, theres going to be a lot of unsigned free agents out there. Most teams are banking on them. Then theyll fill some other areas, said Putz.

And if the 33-year-old reliever goes elsewhere, hell leave behind his best buddy, Matt Thornton, who played a big role in courting Putz to the South Side last year. The two work out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. during the off-season. Theyll be back there bright and early tomorrow morning.

Will Putz be back on the South Side?

Thats a big unknown. But we do know this: the White Sox now have some competition.

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The surprise that Master Sergeant Robert Brantly received on his final day of work is one he’ll never forget.

The father of White Sox catcher Rob Brantly, the elder Brantly was honored on the field on Monday night as the team’s Hero of the Game and joined by his son, who presented him with an autographed bat. The 37-year Air Force veteran, who also celebrated his 56th birthday, wasn’t informed he would be recognized by the White Sox on the field with his son until late Sunday.

“When I saw my son there and gave him a big hug and he told me I was his hero, it meant the world,” the elder Brantly said. “I can’t express it any other way than just gratitude for this organization, this team and my family putting up with me being away for so many different occasions with the military.

“I will never forget coming here to Chicago.”

The White Sox backstop said he informed the club that his father, an Angels fan, would be in town on his final day of employment in the Air Force. Brantly’s first day as a civilian is Tuesday.

“It’s a pretty emotional moment for me just knowing that my dad in the service he put into this country for almost 40 years fighting for our freedom, but also fighting to give me, his son, every opportunity in the world to succeed and he gave me this opportunity to be here and to be able to play Major League Baseball not only as a service man but as a father teaching me everything to know about baseball and the passion that comes along with the game,” the younger Brantly said.

“He would tell me he puts on that uniform every day so I don’t have to. It carries a lot of weight. To be able to do something like that for him and to finish off his career, his first day of retirement, tipping his cap to a Major League Baseball crowd giving him a standing ovation, it was a special moment for him and our family. I was glad I was able to be there to share that with him.”

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Ever since James Shields dropped down his arm angle, the strikeouts have increased considerably.

The White Sox pitcher struck out eight more batters in Monday night’s 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Shields, who pitched seven innings to earn a victory, has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning since he began to throw from a three-quarters angle in the middle of an Aug. 5 loss at Boston. While Shields still hasn’t perfected the new look -- he’s not even sure he’ll bring it back in 2018 -- it has caught the attention of opposing hitters.

“That was definitely a different Shields,” Angels outfielder Mike Trout said. “He was moving the ball around tonight.”

Shields might consider sticking with the lowered angle. The veteran often insists the adjustment is a work in a progress, though his results have continued to improve (he’s got a 3.51 ERA in his past four starts).

Overall, since Shields made the switch he has a 4.33 ERA in 60 1/3 innings, nearly two points below the 6.19 ERA he produced in his first 56 2/3 frames. Shields has also seen a reduction in home runs allowed per nine innings from 2.38 to 1.79.

But the most drastic change has been in strikeouts. Shields has increased his strikeout-rate to 23.5 percent, up from 16.6 percent. He’s whiffed 59 batters since making the adjustment after only 44 prior.

“He already curls, he closes off,” manager Rick Renteria said. “He's got a cross-angle delivery, so you see his back a lot. But I think the variance in velocities, the breaking ball, he'll run the fastball, sink it. He's doing a lot with it, there's a lot of action going on so it's going to both sides of the plate. But the variance of velocity, especially with the breaking ball, sometimes it pops up there as an eephus or something. He's doing a real nice job.”

Shields has one season left on his current deal and seems likely to return to anchor a young White Sox rotation in 2018. Whether or not he’ll stay with the current setup remains to be seen.

“We’ll see,” Shields said “I’ll make some assessments in the offseason, and see how that works out, see how my body is feeling. Over the last month and a half, it seems to be working out. we’ll see how it goes.

“I’m revamping every year man. This being my 12th season, you’re always trying to refine your game every year, no matter what, whether it’s a pitch or mechanical adjustment. The league makes adjustments on you. I’ve faced a lot of these hitters so many times. I think Robbie Cano I’ve had almost 100 at-bats in my career against. But at the end of the day, you always have to make adjustments.”